Biography

Former newspaper journalist who joined the BBC in the late 1960s and worked her way up from regional reports to becoming the BBC's first regular female newsreader, presenting the 9 O'clock News and other news programmes. She made an impression with her "Let's Face The Music and Dance" routine in the 1976 Morecambe & Wise Christmas Special, which led to her later role as host of Come Dancing. She went on to host The Antiques Roadshow and Top Gear before becoming part of TV-am's ill-fated inaugural Famous Five line-up, after which she returned to the BBC and landed right back on her feet with Masterteam. She also hosted a weekly show, Live with Angela Rippon, on the now defunct ITV News Channel.

Trivia

One of the few game show hosts to have had a top ten album - her smash hit being Shape Up And Dance With Angela Rippon.

She made a welcome cameo appearance as herself in the BBC's 1996 comedy series, "The Legacy of Reginald Perrin".

One of Rippon's least-known claims to fame is that she was the first-ever presenter of 'Top Gear' - many people believe that it was actually a certain Mr Clarkson. The early series were shown only in the Midlands area, as the programme had developed as a spin-off from the region's local news programme, 'Midlands Today'. One of the main reasons that Rippon was chosen was the fact that she was always doing a lot of mileage, owing to her work committments, and so many aspects of motorway driving were featured, including the quality (or possibly lack of it) of the food served at service stations.